Evening Star
by theCamDiggins
Summary: Evening Star follows the lives of Sebastian, a Toreador vampire working as the Scourge for the Prince of Amsterdam and Vesper, a human exchange student from Denmark. Sebastian is forced to serve the man who murdered his Sire and finds himself wondering if his existence will be one of only hate and servitude. He meets Vesper and finds new purpose and a drive to break his chains.
1. Act 1 - Sebastian

AUTHORS NOTE: Evening Star is a story told in the first-person point of view. I understand that this isn't to a lot of reader's liking but I do so enjoy writing this way. To help remedy the point of view, each chapter is noted as being in the narration of one of the two main characters. For each chapter, I switch between the two so no chapter is in the narration of the same character consecutively. The characters in this story are all original. I understand that this can be off-putting to readers, but due to the nature of World of Darkness, I hoped that it would be a pretty easy subject to fit them in. There are also flashback sequences that happen in chapters narrated by Sebastian. I've italicized all flashback sequences. Also, this is my very first piece of writing. Please give me tips on proper formatting and please point out any spelling and grammar mistakes. I don't have a dedicated beta reader and I wouldn't be surprised if I missed a few things in editing. Please let me know what you liked and didn't like if possible. I appreciate all feedback as I find my footing as a writer. The characters included in this story are also being used in an expanded universe originally created by a dear friend that creates video role plays of a multitude of original World of Darkness based characters. You can enjoy her work on Youtube at: user/IndigoASMR. Evening Star is an ongoing project of mine and I will be uploading completed chapters as my schedule allows. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

 ** _Act I_**

 ** _Sebastian_**

Sitting by the prince as he carries on with a trial has always sickened me. My place is unfortunately on the prince's left side at any type of gathering. The sheriff, of course, is on his right. I've worked as his Scourge for almost 150 years now. He tasks me with the very things that I hate him for, the things that sicken me. This is much to his delight of course. I know how overjoyed he is to see my reactions.

As the trial carries on, I get a familiar sense of uneasiness. There is a young Kindred on trial for siring a thin-blood. This went against the Camarilla's laws of siring without permission, a law I'm all too familiar with, and the general distaste and scorn against the thin-bloods in general by the older, more pure Kindred. It becomes quite obvious that the prince doesn't intend to be lenient. I can feel his gaze on me as if he was staring in my eyes during the entire proceeding even though he wasn't. After hearing her tell him that she wasn't sorry for what she'd done, he ordered her execution. The Sheriff, Azael, a very old and strong Brujah, moved in position and quickly decapitated her with a single swing of his claymore. I shook and looked away, gritting my teeth and trying not to show the emotion that I knew the Prince was looking for. He always notices my most subtle reactions though.

"Are you quite alright, Sebastian?" He asked, gliding his bottom lip over his fangs.

"Yes Prince Van Leuwen, as always," I replied. He stared at me with peering yellow eyes. He knew what these proceedings did to me.

"Good. I have a task for you," he said.

I peered at Azael out of the corner of my eye. "Does he actually work around here?" I asked with annoyance. He and the Prince chuckled.

"Well of course he does, you know this first hand," he bellowed while licking his fangs. I knew exactly what he was referring to but I brushed it off the best I could.

"This task is more suited to your skills, however. I have Azael working on a possible Sabbat issue here in Amsterdam," he said sounding preoccupied. I tied my dagger belt around my waist and fastened my sword and sheathe over my shoulder.

"What do you need me to do, Prince?" I asked with a slight tone of rebellion in my voice. A familiar sinister smirk appeared on his face as he handed me a piece of paper.

"This a fellow Toreador of yours. We found that she has illegally sired a human and has been evading us for a few weeks now. I would like you to find them and eliminate them. I have no time to have a public trial for each offender," he said as he handed me the warrant. I stare at the paper, entranced by my own thoughts of anger, fear and sadness.

"Sebastian? Sebastian!" he said loudly which snapped me out of it and I peered right at him. "Is this a problem? I assumed you can handle it" he had the same smirk he had since he handed me the warrant. "No… sir. I'll take care of it," I said with gritted teeth.

"Good, and be quick about it would you? I haven't time for any more delays," he said dismissively.

I nodded and made my way to the door. Azael looked at me as I reached the door and stopped me by putting his hand on my shoulder.

"I don't want to have to clean up after you anymore," he said with a snicker.

I whipped his arm from my shoulder and bared my fangs. He laughed as he always does and I left through the door angry as I always am.

Before setting out on my task, I make my way to my apartment to reflect and think. One thing I already knew before I set out was that I wasn't going to kill them, I couldn't. The Prince sends me out on these kinds of tasks intentionally. The Prince and I have quite a bit of history. It's a history that I'm not sure if I want to forget or not depending on my mood that day.

My life before I became Kindred was one of misguidance. I lived with my mother and father in our farmlands outside of Amsterdam. My childhood wasn't very normal by any means, as much as I remember from it. I haven't been human in over 200 years after all. My mother was a sweet woman. She was very warm and caring although the strange thing was that it was never towards me. The only thing my mother ever seemed to care about was my father. He was a drunkard, he was a fiend and I hated him. He was very violent towards her. He was always drunk and either at least belittled her or struck her nightly. After all that though, she still loved him, lived for him and would be lost without him. I watched this repeat night after night for about 19 years.

One night was worse than the others. It was the night that I decided I couldn't bear seeing my mother's blood drip from her nose. Enraged, I grabbed a kitchen knife and I killed the bastard. I did it for everything that he'd done to her and anything that he's ever said to me. What I didn't know about that night was that it was the night that would change me forever. Taking another life isn't something that you move past like it was necessary. Even these days, when my existence is surrounded by the lives that either I take or are taken around me, I feel like I lose a little bit of my soul each time. That is of course if I really have a soul left. Who knows, maybe the real me died 200 years ago along with my father.

My mother was unsurprisingly devastated by his death. She never really said much to me since I was a child, but a couple of days after my father's funeral, she finally said something to me. What she said just ended up being the last thing she would ever say to me. I have a hard time remembering some of those events from back then but her words that night will stay with me for a millennia, if I make it that long. "I loved him you know. You took that love from me. Demon child is what you are. I want you to leave and never come back." Pretty straight to the point, I'll give it to her. It might be a little masochistic but I was sort of happy that it was the first time she's ever looked like a strong woman to me. Devastated of course, I left and never came back as she commanded me. I wished nothing but happiness for my mother and if it was me that made her unhappy, I was reluctantly glad to leave.

I spent about a year on the streets, fending for myself. I spent most of the year very sick, hungry and weak. Nights and days consisting of scavenging for scraps of food I could find, fighting off people that wished to do me harm, with not much success of course, and just trying to survive the cold nights.

One night during a cold December, I stumbled to a part of the city that I've never been. There were big houses, wealthy looking people and warm looking spots to sleep. Most people stayed away from me and by the look on their face, probably wasn't sure if I was a human or an animal of some type. It didn't bother me of course, I was used to the staring. I found my way to a warm alleyway next to a tall house. I rummaged through their discarded trash, hoping to find something to eat and things to cover me up, as it was a night colder than the rest. This was the second night that would change my life forever but in a much different way than the first.

 _"Hey!" I heard a voice call out._

 _Startled I jumped up and started to run. As sick and weak as I was, I didn't expect to make it far and was ready for the ensuing beating that I experienced most nights when trying to steal food. What I expected even less was how quickly I felt a grasp on my arm, which stopped me and turned me right around. I cowered expecting to be struck by a very strong and angry man._

 _"Hey, I'm not going to hurt you sweetheart. Are you okay?"_

 _I looked back at this person wide-eyed after hearing the voice closer. It was a woman. The most unthreatening person I may have ever seen. She was beautiful with flowing dark brown hair and bright glowing yellow eyes that seemed to be reflecting the moonlight._

 _"Uh… yes, I'm sorry. I'll leave," I stammered. She laughed at my vulnerability. I suppose she found it quite adorable._

 _"No you don't have to leave. You look hungry and tired my dear. Why don't you come in?" She replied._

 _I backed away confused. No one has ever offered me anything, let alone the kindness in those words. They sounded too good to be true._

 _"There's no reason to be afraid. I won't hurt you. My name is Emilia. What's yours?" she asked, smiling at me warmly with squinted eyes._

 _I stared at her rather confused. There was no reason for her to be so concerned but I probably needed her help more than anything, so I didn't refuse her._

 _"I'm… Sebastian. Thank you miss, you're very kind." I said awkwardly._

 _She took me by the hand and led me to the front door of her house. "Please go in, you can bathe upstairs and there are warm blankets in the guest room. I'll return shortly, I don't keep much food in the house I'm afraid and I must find you some fresh clothes. Those rags are dreadful," she said with concern._

 _I remember feeling bad because I didn't say much when we first met. I think over that year, I had forgotten how to interact with another person._

 _"Thank you," I said staring at the ground. I felt tears well up thinking about not being cold for a change._

 _She walked over to me and placed her hand under my chin. "Of course my dear. Go on then. I'll return shortly." She said softly. I looked up at her with tears and again, she smiled with squinted eyes._

 _I made my way upstairs to the bathroom. Emilia had quite a lot of old possessions. Even for the 1800's, some things looked very antique to me at the time. I found it odd that she had paintings on every wall of the house. I did enjoy art and there were some beautiful pieces that looked older than even this house. I thought nothing more of it and walked into the bathroom. I ran the water in the bathtub to about as scorching as I could possibly handle and hurried in as my excitement made me laugh loudly with joy. It felt amazing. For a while, seemingly hours, I just lay in the water almost falling asleep from the pure comfort. I washed away a year's worth of dirt from my body and scrubbed my hair until it felt clean and then some for good measure. I wasn't exactly sure when this opportunity might arise again._

 _As I got out of the bath, I grabbed a towel from next to the sink to dry myself. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. It was strange since that was maybe the first time I've seen what I looked like since leaving my home. I had longer hair, down to my shoulders and I could see some of my original blonde that had been covered by mud and dirt up until now. I was thinner which didn't surprise me. I can't remember the last I had a proper meal. All in all, it was nice to see that I was still myself after everything that had happened. Emilia said she had blankets in the guest room so I made my way there. It was down quite a long hallway so I took the walk as a chance to mull things over. I wondered why she was being so nice to me. I don't see any reason why anyone would offer a night of warmth to me. I wondered if maybe not everyone is as cruel as others can be._

 _I entered the guest room. On the bed was a neatly folded pile of clothes with a note on it. As I examined the clothes, I noticed that the fabric felt wonderful. They shirt was made of a rich blackened silk and the pants, a dark linen. These clothes were expensive, how could she be so kind as to give these to me? I hoped not to offend her by denying her generosity, so I fit myself into the clothes, which felt warm and comfortable. I picked up the note that was written in gorgeous handwriting and scented paper that smelled as she did when I first met her. The note read; "When you are ready, please join me in the dining room. I would love to hear your story. –E". She signed it with a curved cursive E next to the stamp of a rose. I was nervous. How do I thank the person that may have saved my life, if only for a night? Whatever the reason, I planned to let her know how thankful I am._

 _I walked slowly down the long winding staircase, stalling a little bit thinking of how to properly show my appreciation to Emilia. I didn't have much practice in gratitude. There haven't been many occasions lately where I needed to use it. I hoped that I looked presentable. Emilia was quite striking and I didn't want to insult her by not looking my best. I reached the bottom step and turned towards the dining room. As I entered, Emilia looked at me and smiled as she lean against the table._

 _"Oh my, you are quite handsome when you're all clean," she said with wide eyes. I looked away and blushed._

 _"Thank you. I don't mean to be rude but can I ask you a question?" I asked hesitantly. She rose from the table with an intrigued look._

 _"Of course my dear, ask me anything you wish," she replied._

 _I furled my brow as I hoped not to insult her. "Why are you showing me such kindness? I don't understand," I asked. Emilia walked over to me and placed a finger under my chin to lift my eyes to hers. They we're still a glowing yellow even without the moonlight. As odd as it seemed, I doubted at the time that it could be anything too out of the ordinary._

 _"You've seen a lot of cruelty during your time out there I imagine. How long have you been on your own?" She asked. I had to stop and think for a moment, as I wasn't exactly sure beyond thinking it has been a year after seeing a second winter._

 _"It must be around a year now. I'm not sure. I've lost almost all sense of time as strange as that may seem," I said. She smiled at me and let out a laugh._

 _"That's not as strange as you may think my dear. I can relate to that feeling," she said as she leaned in closer to me as if to sample my scent. "Please sit down and eat. I know you must be quite hungry."_

 _There was a wide array of different foods she laid out on the table. Some I haven't seen before. This was the most amazing food I've seen since I've left the farm. Trying not to be too hypnotized by my coming feast, I noticed Emilia making her way towards the door._

 _"Are you not hungry?" I called out to her. She seemed taken aback by the question as if not expecting me to ask._

 _"Oh no, my dear, I don't eat much I'm afraid. I do have something I must attend to. Would you please stay here tonight? I would be delighted to see you again." She asked expectantly._

 _I gave her a nod. I couldn't resist the kindness in her words. She gave me her signature squinted smile and left quickly through the door._

What I didn't know is that night would mark the coming end of my human life. With that, comes the knowledge of truth. The truth of this world is that humans are blind to the real cruelty happening in the shadows. She was my break from the cruelty, both as a human and as Kindred. I laughed to myself. I haven't reminisced like this in a while. Maybe it's because I stare at this warrant and see these two in the same situation. Even worse, they are Toreador. It's almost as if I'm looking past who is actually on the piece of paper and I stare into the eyes of Emilia and myself. I decided to waste no more time. I know what I need to do and I need to do it quickly. I grab a key from my safe and a couple blood packs from my emergency stash. With a bounty like this on their heads, I'm sure they've found it difficult to feed. According to my personal contacts on the streets, a couple timid Kindred have been seen staying at the local beach. Not too far from my apartment. I grabbed my coat and head over that way.

As I arrive at the beach, nothing of interest catches my eyes. They appear to not be here but I know better. I close my eyes and focus on my sense of smell. After many years of training with very skilled Toreadors, my skill in senses are unrivaled by most Kindred. I smiled to myself. I'll have to thank the Prince for that opportunity one day. The first scent that caught my attention was the water. It smelled just as I always remembered it, beautiful. It didn't help that with such a bright moon tonight, it was even more appealing to the eye. I let out a laugh when I realized how distracted I was. Emilia always told me that this was our curse as Toreador. Still to this day I couldn't ask for a more wonderful affliction to be cursed with. I needed to refocus, and in doing so I caught scent that was unfamiliar. It was the scent of Kindred, two of them actually. One smelled quite young. It must be them and the scent was coming from under the boardwalk to my far left. I quickly undid my weapon belts and lay them in the sand.

"I know you're both there! I don't wish to hurt you, please come out so we can talk," I called out. I heard a sharp voice come from the under the pier.

"I know who you are Scourge of the Prince. What other reason would you be here than to kill us?" the voice called back. I was surprised that she could recognize me from that distance but it was of no matter.

"If you know who I am, then you know if I meant to kill you, I wouldn't bother talking to you first," I replied.

As if those were the magic words, she and her childe moved out from the shadows and walked to me. She looked at me with stern eyes.

"So Scourge, if you don't wish us harm then why are you here?" She asked. I pulled my hood down hoping to show the sincerity in my eyes.

"I want to help you. I have no wish to kill you and your childe unnecessarily," I said. She looked at her childe up and down who remained silent.

"I love him, truly. The Prince is cruel to deny me the right to be with him forever," she explained.

When she said that, I realized something that I've only slightly considered until now. The Prince had organized this. He denied permission to a Toreador wishing to sire for love. Knowing that she would go against his wishes, he would be forced to order to me kill them. I grimaced as I thought of how much I hated that bastard.

"Look, my dear, if anyone can sympathize with your feelings it's me. Please trust me," I said quickly. She looked at me and nodded realizing that I truly wished to help.

"Take these blood packs, I know you must be hungry," I said as I reached in my bag. She grabbed them, smiled and gave one to her childe. "This is the key to my boat. Go to the docks take it and leave the city. You'll never be able to come back here, but you will live."

A look of gratefulness was clear in her eyes and she threw her arms around me in a hug and thanked me. "Make haste please, there's not a moment to waste." I said as I rushed her. She nodded, grabbed her childe by the hand and turned to walk towards the dock.

Unfortunately, as they make it a few steps away from me, I heard a familiar sound that I was dreading to hear the entire night, the sound of whistling metal through the air. No later than when I first heard the sound, I look towards the two Kindred to see Azael's signature steel glaive pierce the neck of the childe and decapitate him with ease. A spark and a plume of ash burst from what was once his body. His sire screamed in horror at seeing her love see the final death and as I reached out in a futile attempt to save her, Azael was already in front of me, swinging down his claymore and decapitating her with as much ease as the childe. I stood there frozen in horror as I felt a single tear of blood escape from my eye.

"I knew I would have to clean up after you," He bellowed with a grin on his face. "The Prince will be delighted to hear of your disloyalty."

I still don't give him attention as if to disregard his words as I fight back tears. He leaned it a little closer to me.

"It looks like you still have a soft spot for that whore sire of yours. What was her name? Emilia?"

My eyes snapped to his to meet his menacing gaze. I delivered a swift kick planted right on his temple. He flew back a few feet before hitting the sand with a slide. Azael may have been much stronger than me, but he would never match my speed. I walked up to him as he begins to get up from the ground.

"Tell the Prince whatever you wish, but know this, if you ever mention her name again, I will kill you," I said angrily. He laughed and wiped the blood from his face.

"Well then I look forward to the day it slips out next," he replied.

I looked away and started back towards my apartment. There will be quite the discussion between the Prince and I tomorrow. I might as well be prepared.


	2. Act 2 - Vesper

**_Act II_**

 ** _Vesper_**

The Amsterdam nightlife has been something I've been around for a while now, but I still haven't gotten used to it. After exchanging here from my quiet home in Denmark, life here has required adaptation on my part. Amsterdam is a beautiful city. I was drawn here by my passion for art. There is a wonderful school here in Amsterdam called Rietveld where some of my favorite artists and pieces come from. I'm delighted to be able to go here, even if my art form can be seen as slightly outlandish sometimes as most of my work is street art. Growing up, I spray-painted walls all over Denmark attempting to imitate my favorite artists only using brick and stone as my canvas. It became a signature thing and while I find all art amazing, I was able to find a canvas more suited to me to tell my story through my paintings.

School life can be rather stressful sometimes but I've met a nice group of ladies that have grown into good friends over the last year and they see to it that I unwind and have fun in a city where there's much to be had. In fact tonight, after a stressful week of lectures and deadlines, they were taking me out to a local club called Amon, which has gained a lot of popularity after opening only recently. I dreaded going in the back of my mind but my friends we're quite persistent in reminding me how uptight I am. There was some truth to it. Parties and dancing sounded much less appealing than grabbing my sketchbook and working on ideas for my next piece. They are lovely friends. I met the three of them, Claire, Sofie and Lena at Rietvelt. Although they weren't as passionate about art as the next place to have a good time, I enjoyed that about them since most of the time they felt like a much-needed counterbalance.

As we got ready to make our way to club, I felt like everyone's eyes seemed to hang on me for a little longer than usual.

"Are you excited, Ves? You look like as grouchy as usual," Sofie said slyly.

Right then I knew that this trip to the club was a little more than just a ladies' night out.

"I'm excited. It's just hard to breathe when the air is now a mixture of four different perfumes," I replied.

The other girls joined in on what I knew, was only the beginning of tonight's torment.

"You look great Vesper!" all three squealed in unison.

"Uh, thanks everyone. So are you three going to tell me what you're plotting?" I asked. They looked at each other with a hint of disappointment.

"Look Ves, we just think you need to relax a bit. You're so stressed all the time that we just want you to have fun," Sofie said with what I could tell was genuine concern.

Lena reached over and put her hand on my shoulder. "We think you should try to find a guy too. We just don't want you to be lonely, sweetheart," she said. I was a bit surprised by that notion.

"What do you mean lonely? I have you three," I said, annoyed. All three of them laughed in unison, which I was starting to find a little creepy at this point.

"Let's just head out and see what happens tonight. Just keep an open mind will you?" Claire asked as she nudged at me with a sinister smile.

"Fine, open mind it is then," I muttered with obvious annoyance in my voice. We left the apartment and took the short walk to Club Amon, feeling a bit jittery about what exactly tonight had in store for me.

We arrived at the club in no time at all. The club was conveniently less than a mile away from our apartment. This was also much to my relief so I could endure as little harassing small talk as possible.

"This looks a lot bigger than I thought it would be," I mentioned to the girls. Sofie looked at me with joyful eyes.

"Isn't it just amazing? Don't get too drunk Ves!" she said jokingly. I nudged her forward,

"Shut up and let's go," I said as I noticed myself feeling more and more irritated.

Moving closer to the entrance, the first thing I noticed was the bouncer. He was quite large, probably more so than I expected a bouncer to be but what I found more out of the ordinary was his red shaded eyes.

"Hey Lena, what's with his fancy colored eyes?" I asked quietly in her ear.

"I think that's the theme of the club. I've noticed quite a few people with colored contacts," she said as she motioned towards someone down the alleyway next to the club with glowing red eyes.

"That's actually kind of cool," I said with a bit of a squeal.

"I knew you'd like that!" Lena squealed back with happiness over my excitement.

We were next in line to enter and the bouncer stopped us before letting us in. He didn't say a word but instead looked us up and down as if inspecting us. He then made a strange motion as if to sniff the air. After passing whatever odd test that was, he unchained the rope and motioned us inside.

"That was unusual," I said but it was already too loud in the club for my friends to hear me in a normal tone.

There was a DJ at the very front of the club playing electronic music, which I've grown to like a little bit more after being dragged around the club scene by the girls. There was a balcony surrounding the edges of the dance floor where people were dancing against the railing and a hallway near the back, which was roped off with two bouncers standing on either side.

"Vesper, would you stop analyzing and come to the bar?" Claire asked loudly in my ear.

She grabbed my hand and dragged me over to the bar. Claire ordered four martinis and as we got the drinks, I could feel all 3 sets of their eyes locked on me.

"You guys can't stare at me all night, this is silly," I shouted without looking their way.

Luckily this time I couldn't hear their synchronized cackles over the music. Almost as if they summoned him, a young guy, probably barely passable of an age to get in here, approached the bar and stood a bit uncomfortable close to me. As soon as I brought my attention away from his presence, I look to see Claire smile and wave at me as my three 'friends' disappear into the large dance crowd. Infuriated but not surprised, I look down and stir my drink with anger, noticing the guy next to me has been staring the entire time.

"You probably would enjoy that more if you drank it. Can I get you another one?" He asked as he turned to face me with his chest too obviously pushed out and his shoulders awkwardly widened in a flex of some sort. I looked at him with the most disgusted look I could muster.

"If that's your best pick-up line, I'll pray for the girl that falls for it," I said menacingly as I got up and left the bar, leaving him with a pained look on his face.

The music seemed to be getting louder as the night progressed and after my friends ditching me for what they probably assumed were noble reasons, I decided not to search the dance floor for them. I noticed a doorway on the far end of the club with a sign indicating that it was cocktail lounge. Yearning for a bit of quiet from the music and maybe another drink or two, I started towards the doors. I did one last scan of the dance floor area to see if I could notice the girls, but the crowd was very large and if they were still there, I didn't want to go through the effort of finding them. I glanced up towards the balcony one last time, to notice that everyone that was dancing up there previously had left and one lone person exiting from the roped off area. I shrugged to myself and made way slowly to the cocktail lounge, sipping my drink and deciding that I would still try to enjoy my night the best I could.

I walked into the lounge and much to my relief, there was but a few people and the music was muffled enough to be unnoticeable. I walked up the bar and the bartender, with glowing red eyes, smiled at me.

"Another martini, my dear?" he asked pointing to my empty glass with the olive still remaining. I smiled back and nodded.

"I'm not really a fan of the music. I enjoy the peace and quiet as well," he said with oddly welcoming eyes and an even odder smile, looking as if he just stumbled upon treasure.

"I apologize, I'm a bit irritated and not feeling very talkative I'm afraid," I said softly with honest remorse. He leaned in a bit closer to me.

"Well, if you're looking to leave, I know of a…-," he stopped mid-sentence and his gaze shot away from me and back to the glass he was polishing, as if he had just seen a ghost.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I went to reach out to him but before lifting my hand, I felt a gentle grasp on my shoulder.

"E… Emilia?" the voice called out.

I quickly turned around to see a tall young looking man, with shoulder length brown hair and large glowing yellow colored eyes looking at me with an appearance of concern. Stunned by him, I was unable to make but a few quiet sounds instead of responding to him. After looking into my eyes for a few seconds he blinked quickly as if confused and slowly formed a smile on his face.

"I apologize, miss. I believe I've mistaken you for someone else," he said with a smile, as I still stood motionless. His voice was calm and warm and his gaze was both welcoming and strangely comforting.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you, please enjoy your night." He spoke this time a little more quickly and left quickly towards the door.

Snapping out of my stupor, I reached out to him and whimpered "Wait…" only it was so quiet that I'm not sure that I even heard it. Standing there, I looked around as I gathered myself, noticing the bartender's look of horror as he put the same glass down and walked into the back room. Without my thoughts returning to focus, I hurried towards the door to possibly catch up with him. I ran through the doors and looked around quick and carefully but much to my disappointment, he was nowhere to be found. Instead, Claire, Lena and Sofie walked towards me without me noticing.

"Hey, are you okay?" Claire asked as she touched my arm. I looked at her with divided attention.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine of course. What's going on?" I asked trying to sound calm. Claire looked at me with her usual glare of excitement.

"We got invited to a party, cute guy. Are you coming?" she asked. I looked at her and tried my best to seem tired.

"I'm probably going to head back to the apartment. See you guys there later?" I replied. I looked hopeful that they would accept and in unison they slightly frowned, nodded and headed towards the club entrance.

After wandering the club for a while, trying to look casual as I hoped to spot the man from earlier, I gave up and headed towards the entrance to leave as well. With an unshakable feeling of sadness that I couldn't figure out, I left through the doors and turned to begin my walk home. Before making it far, I heard the same dark but soft voice from earlier as I crossed the alleyway next to the bar. I looked down to see him, the captivating man from earlier, talking to another person under a light in the alley. With an overwhelming sense of inexplicable joy with a mixture of fear, I jumped back from the open and pressed myself against the wall, out of sight from them. I listened closely, as I tried to figure a way to approach him.

"I'm not sure if I'm up to this tonight," he said to the other person that had a look of concern on his face.

"I'm not sure if I follow. What the hell is up with you, Sebastian?" he replied to him. I smiled widely at the first sound of his name. "Sebastian" I whispered to myself. I listened further out of uncontrollable feeling of curiosity.

"I just saw a woman in there that I could have sworn was Emilia," he replied.

I thought back to when he first approached me and I remembered that was the name he spoke. He was talking about me.

"Sebastian, I can't begin to understand the pain you've been in all this time, but tonight is the night you need to focus most. I don't need to remind you that you're on very thin ice do I?" he asked.

I peeked around the corner to see him looking up towards the moon in what looked like a trance.

"No, I need no reminder. The one he's looking for is in the Red Room. I'll take care of it," he said to the other, receiving a nod in response and both began to leave towards the back of alley.

Impulsively I jumped from around the corner fearful of losing sight of him again.

"Sebastian?" I called out loudly enough that I knew he'd hear.

His gaze snapped quickly towards me in what looked like fear. The other person was even more wide-eyed and horrified than he was. Sebastian motioned to the other to leave and he walked slowly toward me. I could feel my legs tremble beneath me as he approached me and I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to say.

"Hello again, I'm quite sorry for earlier," he began. I tried to not get lost in his words as I thought of my best reply.

"Oh please don't apologize. You just looked startled," I replied. He smiled as he looked into my eyes. His smile sent dancing tingles up and down my spine.

"I hope I didn't worry you. I see introductions aren't exactly needed. Yes, my name is Sebastian. What do I call you, my dear?" He spoke with such articulation that it was difficult to not seem enthralled by his words.

"My name is Vesper," I said confidently as I started to feel more comfortable and the trembling began to calm. A look of intrigue showed in his glowing yellow eyes. Perhaps he enjoyed the colored contact theme as well.

"Vesper… Like the Evening Star? How lovely!" he said with a tone of joy.

"You know the meaning? Most people don't!" I said loudly with surprise. His expression turned into a look of concern.

"I must confess; you do resemble someone I once knew. "It is a bit startling," he said before his expression changed back to one of happiness. "I'm a believer in fate, whether it be tragic or beautiful. It seems fate has gifted me with beauty on this night." His words entranced me and I stood motionless as I felt myself getting lost in his eyes. I reached for his arm without thought, almost as a reflex in response to the warmth he brought with his voice.

"If this is what fate feels like, I believe it," I replied to him, Sebastian, this mysterious man that I met only moments ago. He looked away from me and back towards the alley for a second before stepping closer.

"I'm afraid that there's a matter that requires my attention. It would make me very happy to see you again, if you wish of course."

I resisted the urge to jump into arms right then and tried to keep calm in my reply.

"I would love that. Here I can give you my number," I said while I reached to pull out my phone but he put his hand on mine to stop me.

"If you believe that fate brought us together tonight, believe that it will bring us together again," he said quietly. The trembling returned at the sensation of his touch.

"O…okay," I whispered as it was the only word that I could barely even muster.

"Until next time, Evening Star," he said as he reached out and brushed the hair out of my eyes but quickly pulled his hand back as if receiving a shock. A smile slowly appeared on his face, like when first I seen him and he left towards the back of the alley.

I stayed in that spot frozen in thought for a few minutes after he left. Something about Sebastian felt different. He stirred a feeling inside me that I've never felt and at the same time I knew almost nothing about him. I walked back to my apartment walking so slowly and distracted that a 10-minute walk turned into an hour. Opening the door and entering the apartment, my friends looked jumped up to greet me at the door.

"Ves, where have you been? We've been calling you for hours," the three said in the same creepy synchronization.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," I assured them. Claire leaned in close in curiosity.

"I've never seen you smile like that. You met someone didn't you?" she asked. I looked at Claire and laughed.

"I'm going to bed. Tell ya all about it in the morning," I said with a bubbly tone.

Their lingering smiles lasted until I closed the door to my bedroom. I jumped quickly in bed with my mind racing as I fall asleep smiling to myself thinking about the next time I meet Sebastian.


	3. Act 3 - Sebastian

**_Act III_**

 ** _Sebastian_**

As I stepped back into the club from the hidden entrance behind the alley, I tried to refocus on why I was actually here. Whether or not I truly believed in all those things I said about fate, I couldn't shake my thoughts from that girl, Vesper, and the chances of meeting someone to once again, remind me of the reason I decide to continue my existence. There wasn't much time to think about her now unfortunately as Damian met me at the back entrance of the club.

"Here," he said handing me my dagger belt, which I fastened around my waist.

"My sword?" I asked with a hint of annoyance in my voice. He held onto the sword and stared at it as if he didn't hear me.

"She never wanted any of this for you, you know?" he replied.

He caught me off guard with those words. Damian is a very dear friend of mine. He was a friend and companion to Emilia since before I met her and long before I became Kindred. After she died, he stuck by me and helped guide me through what happened then.

"I know. Carrying her sword reminds me of that," I said to him. He handed me the sword with the beautifully etched E emblazoned on the sheath and I fastened it around my shoulder. Damian put his hand on my shoulder to stop me before I could take a step away.

"That girl does look just like her. I heard what you said to her. She's not Emilia, Sebastian. Don't make the same mistake she did," he pleads to me with sincerity in his voice. I felt a little angry with him but I quickly let it go because he was right.

"Let's just get this over with before sunrise, please," I said without meeting his eyes.

He nodded back to me, "Let's".

We made our way to main floor of the club. There were still as many people here as in the beginning of the night although the ratio seems to have shifted to more human than Kindred as the morning approaches. Weaving through the crowd, we reached the stairs to the balcony which I had previously ordered be sealed off. Damian and I headed up and as we reached the roped off hallway leading to the Red Room the bouncer at the ropes stopped me.

"I was hoping you don't make too much of a mess in there, Sebastian. I have to clean that shit up later," he asked. I bared my fangs, as I was slightly annoyed.

"Alright, alright man. Take it easy," he said as he left and walked towards the stairs.

"You need me in there?" Damian asked as we ascended the stairs and stopped just short of the Red Room.

I smiled to him, "No. I'm more than happy to take care of this one myself, even if it is at the command of the fool Prince."

I was here under orders to kill a Malkavian named Bram that had repeatedly violated the Masquerade by feeding on and killing humans in view of others.

"I'll be right outside keeping watch if you need me," he said as we gave each other a nudge.

I could hear the bastard in there laughing over something. There were two other kindred with him that I assumed were friends of his. They were young, which meant they would be quite easily dispatched if need be. I felt an unordinary feeling of anger well up inside me as I thought of the people he's killed. Without being able to stand his laughter for one more second, I open the door and walk in. The laughter halted with quickness and Bram stared me directly in the eye with no hint of the fear that I've come to expect.

"Well if it isn't the Scourge himself," he said slyly.

Before replying to him, I look to the corner of the room where the bodies of five young human women were stacked up, almost like trash waiting to be discarded. I clenched my fist as I held myself back from killing all three of them straight away. I at least wanted to hear an explanation.

"Sebastian? Say something, to what do I owe this visit?" I sunk my fangs into my bottom lip, causing blood to drip down my chin as my fury grew at his act of ignorance.

"You know exactly what you owe. Your life," I replied to him. He laughed as if to ignore the obvious threat.

"You know Sebastian, I never understood why Van Leuwen let you live. Toreadors make horrible killers," he said as his two friends chuckled.

"Maybe if your Sire wasn't so much of a fool, she…-," before he could finish his sentence, I grabbed one of the daggers from my belt and threw it with such speed and precision, that his companion on the left only barely saw my movement before bursting into a cloud of ash.

"My apologies, Bram, please continue," I said with an unwavering stare. Without time for him to respond, his companion to the right jumped up from the seat and darted towards the door in attempt to escape. Deciding that I wasn't feeling merciful tonight, I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, my eyes never leaving Bram's.

"It's actually true that Toreadors make horrible killers. I would much rather be witness to creation than destruction. Often times, things happen in this existence that can make us into something we're not," I said to him as I threw the young Kindred to the ground and no sooner grabbing another dagger and plunging it into his neck in a motion to decapitate him. I pulled my sword from my sheath and gripped it tightly in anger and began to walk toward him. An odd smile grew on his face.

"Have you ever wondered what it was like to taste the madness of the Malkavian, Sebastian?" he asked, as I suddenly felt frozen. His eyes looking focused on mine in a menacing stare.

I started to feel dizzy and disoriented almost to the point of falling down. I shut my eyes tight in effort to refocus. I knew this was the Dementation ability of the Malkavian, but in my anger, I left myself unprepared. As I opened my eyes, I was no longer in the Red Room but on the Prince's stage of trials, a place all too familiar to me.

"C'mon, snap out of it." I said to myself.

"Sebastian?" a familiar soft voice called out. I stood petrified. I knew whose voice that belonged to and it couldn't be possible.

"Sebastian," the voice called out again. I slowly turned around to see Emilia, as radiant as I remember her, walking towards me. I stood frozen, tears of blood starting to well up in my eyes.

"My sweet Sebastian," she muttered as she reached out and brushed her fingers against my cheek.

"You can't be real," I was barely able to say as I tried to keep grip of reality.

"Why can't I be real? Do you not want me to be real? Has that human already taken my place?" she asked with a pleading voice.

"No of course not. Why would you think that?" I replied to her with the tears starting to stream down my face. Emilia started to stumble, almost as if she couldn't keep her balance. She fell forward and I caught her in my arms.

"I loved you Sebastian. Why did you let me die?" she asked as tears of blood started to escape her eyes as well.

"Emilia, you were everything to me. You saved me. I can barely go on without you," I said with a distraught voice. Emilia started bleeding from her ears, nose and then from her neck as a wound opened as if sliced by a blade.

"I wish you would have saved me, my love. We could have been so happy," she said. I held her tighter.

"I couldn't, I'm so sorry," I whispered to her.

"No, you couldn't. You're weak Sebastian. You were weak when I found you and I died because of your weakness," she began I shook as I felt horror of her words sent shivers throughout my body. "I never should have sired you. Who knew the object of my desire would be the end of me?" I flinched at the thought of her rejection of me.

"This can't be you. You've never said such things to me," I muttered to her.

"The truth is, I do love you. I just wish loving you didn't cost me my life," she said before turning to ash in my arms.

"Emilia please! You can't leave me again! Not again…" I said as I gripped her ashes, almost in an effort to put her back together.

I collapsed next to her ashes in perpetual sadness and hopelessness, wishing to join her now more than ever. I closed my eyes as I contemplated ending myself. I envisioned Emilia and our time together, as well as our time apart. As those thoughts moved through my head, I then began to think of other events: the Prince, Azael, and the torture that they put me through. The innocents they've made me kill over their entertainment. My despair started becoming anger. I thought about the girl from Amon; Vesper, and how she looked just like my lost Sire. Was she a gift from Emilia, a reminder to love and protect like she had done for me? I then focused on sooner events, the task I was commanded to complete this very night, A Malkavian killing needlessly. I started to remember where I was and where I was supposed to be. I felt angrier and angrier until it reached a boiling point.

"Bram…" I muttered to myself. I screamed loudly with fury and opened my eyes. No longer was on the stage of trials, but back in the Red Room with Bram standing over me.

"Enjoy your trip, Sebastian?" he asked with arrogance as he broke out in laughter.

"You fool. You should've killed me," I said through a clenched jaw still staring at the ground where Emilia lay just moments ago.

"Kill you? What kind of entertainment would that bring? I much rather see you squirm!" he said with a cackle between each word. I grabbed my sword lying directly beside me and sprang up.

"Up and around are we?" he taunted with a wide smirk. Without as much as a word, I picked him up almost as if he was weightless and threw him against the wall, driving my blade through his shoulder.

Without a break in his mad cackle, he muttered, "Don't think you can cause me pain, Toreador. I'm enjoying this much more than you."

I realized he was correct, so without wasting more of my time I pull my sword from his shoulder and removed his head with one simple swing. I breathed with a sigh of relief. At least I could feel the anger leave me piece by piece.

"Sebastian!" Damian yelled to me from the other side of the doors. I looked over to him, as he sounded startled. "Azael is here!" he called out to me. Suddenly, I felt the anger return to me even quicker than it left.

I waited in the room, as I knew Azael was here to see me. It didn't take long after Damian's warning before he walked into the room.

"I gotta say Sebastian, I'm impressed! There's a beast inside you after all," he said to me with a laugh.

"You need something?" I asked with the same annoyance I always show when talking to him.

"Well, I just came by to collect Bram's blood sample for the Prince as proof that I didn't have to clean up after you for once," He replied with his trademark smirk.

"Here," I said to him as I raised my sword directly to his chest, the point only inches away from his heart. The blade was still dripping with Bram's blood. Azael looked to the blade and back to me, and he let out a chuckle.

"This will do!" he said as he let a few drops drip into a vial. "You should head home, killer. It's almost sunrise," he told me as if I would believe he was honestly concerned. I began to walk out as I was very hungry myself and needed to feed before daylight.

"I still owe you for the beach you know!" he called to me as I left the room.

"You know where to find me." I called back, already out of sight.

I gave Damian a parting pat on the shoulder as I left Amon and headed back to the comfort of my apartment. I didn't have the stomach to feed on a human tonight. I luckily keep an overstock of blood packs at my apartment for such an occasion.

I arrived back at my apartment not long before sunrise. I grabbed a blood pack from my hidden safe behind my bookcase. Mentally exhausted, I fiddled with the opening to the pack in hopes of pouring it into a glass but soon gave up and just sunk my fangs into the plastic. Finishing quickly, I breathed a sigh of relief as the hunger I've been putting off was finally quenched. With the sun beginning to rise, I walked over and closed the metal sun shields equipped to my windows. I returned my weapons to the safe behind the bookcase and plopped down onto my bed and closed my eyes. As I began my usual process of running the events of the night through my head, I hesitated, knowing that remembering tonight meant seeing Emilia again. Whether or not I think of myself as a masochist, it was actually nice to see her again even if she was just a twisted visage from the mind of a Malkavian. My thoughts began to slowly quiet and my body began to stiffen as I fall into slumber. With my eyes closed, I drifted away with my final thoughts being of the moonlit yellow eyes of my sire, eyes that I would inherit from her. Moving past the difficulties that occurred tonight, I couldn't forget that I had actually saw Emilia twice tonight. Vesper, such a darling and sweet girl, actually reminded me much of myself, even if she resembled Emilia. Before falling into unconsciousness, I seen images of her and I as if I were back in the times before I became Kindred.

 _"I'm just worried about you. You never tell me what these things are that you always have to attend to," I said to Emilia. She reached over and brushed my cheek._

" _There is no cause for worry, Sebastian," she replied. I looked at her with an increasing sense of concern. I always felt like I knew her, but there were things that she left unsaid._

 _"Emilia, I never brought myself to question you because it's not my place but I need to know. You leave during the day only to return late at night. The other night you came home with torn clothing and what looked like an injury of some sort," I said worriedly. Emilia grabbed my arm and pulled me close to her._

 _"First of all, your place is with me. Never forget that. I've been able to sense your doubt and concern. I believe I owe you answers. Before I do that, I have to see someone about a favor. I'll return shortly and safely, okay?" she kissed me longingly before grabbing her coat and leaving through door._

 _I stood there, stunned, as I wasn't able to gather my thoughts quickly enough for a reply. I had a bad feeling, almost physical that something terrible was going to happen but I chalked it up to ordinary anxiety. What is it about her that I didn't know yet? As I thought on it more deeply, I realized that the things that I know about Emilia are outweighed by the things that I do not. that the things I don't know about Emilia outweigh the things I do. I walked around the foyer of the house, stopping and standing beneath each one of her collected paintings. I looked at them hoping that they would give me some insight on who she really was. How did she come about being here? What about friends and family? It's only been her and I here in this house for months. I longed to learn about the woman who saved my life. As mysterious as she might be, I loved her deeply for what she has been to me so far._

 _Hours had passed and my worry continued to grow. How could she be so confident? She was a woman alone on the streets at night and I knew all too well of the dangers in the streets of Amsterdam after dark. I couldn't just sit here any longer; I had to go find her. As soon as I reached for my coat to head out, Emilia walked quietly and calmly through the door but oddly as she turned around to close it, she stayed there as if frozen in thought._

 _"Is everything okay? I was about to come look for you, I was terrified," I said to her as the worry made my words slightly unintelligible. She turned around and looked at me with a smile._

 _"Sebastian, please come sit with me," she said. She grabbed my hand and led me over to the couch in her library. She looked me in the eyes, never leaving my gaze, "My love, before I give you the answers you've been seeking, I need one from you." I looked at her confused at her words._

 _"Of course but you're scaring me. Is something wrong with you?" I asked as I heard the fear in my own voice._

 _"Sweet boy, tell me, do you want to stay by each others side, forever?" she asked as she wrapped strands of my hair around her fingers. She sounded different tonight than any other night and I could feel the emotions as if they we're my own._

 _"Yes of course. I've never felt as safe as I do with you," I replied to her. She smiled in joy and grabbed my hand._

 _"I'm glad, my love. That's all I needed to hear. Now, please don't be frightened," she said to me quickly and before I could react to her, she smiled widely showing me her teeth. Her canines grew into long, sharp fangs right before my eyes._

 _"Emilia… what are…-," I began before she placed her finger on my lips in attempt to quiet me._

 _"Just listen, my dear. I'm quite sure you're familiar with the human mythology on what I am so I'll spare you the details. I am vampire, Sebastian. Does this frighten you?"_

 _Although feeling stunned physically, as if my only my body could feel the shock of her revelation, I felt calm and relieved that I finally knew what she had been hiding. Normally something unbelievable, it's unsurprisingly difficult to disbelieve what I've seen with my own eyes._

 _"I couldn't be frightened of you. No matter what you are. You taught me to not be afraid," I replied to her. She smiled and gasped with an expression of relief as she reached to pull me close._

 _"You fill my heart with light, my love," she whispered in my ear. Emilia inched away and scanned me up and down in inspection. "Now that you know, I have to ask again. Do you wish to stay by my side, forever, now that you know forever is reality?" she asked with longing eyes._

 _I looked away from her and at my own hands. I turned them over and fixated on my palms. I wonder what I would be if Emilia never found me. Would I even be alive?_

 _"Forever, Emilia. There's no place I'd rather be than with you," I told her as I reached over and brushed the hair from her eyes._

 _"You've made me very happy, Sebastian. Will you accept my Embrace? Will you be mine forever?" she asked melodically with closed eyes. I knew what she was asking and without need for thought, made a decision. I didn't know what the decision would entail but I did know that I couldn't decline eternity with her._

 _"I will accept. You should have known I would all along," I said hoping to calm her doubt. Emilia smiled, showing her fangs, as she leaned forward, sniffing the air._

 _"Relax, dear Sebastian. This won't be painful. Just close your eyes. When you awaken, we can begin our eternity," she said as she guided my head to rest on her shoulder._

 _I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around her. Without hesitation, she quickly placed her lips on my neck as if finally experiencing a moment that she had been anxiously awaiting. I felt the sharp points of her fangs glide over my neck as she searched for a suitable spot. Finding the point she was looking for, she slowly guided her fangs through my flesh. I expected to feel pain but as she promised, there was none. It sent shivers almost like electricity throughout my entire body. I felt my head becoming more comfortably rested on her shoulder as the blood continued leaving the puncture wounds. Emilia gripped me tightly as she gently drank, occasionally moving away, letting out sighs as if to catch her breath. I felt myself become tired while the waves of electricity became more intense, filling my nerves with a shocking sensation. Enraptured by the sensation, I placed my hand behind her head to pull her more tightly to my neck. I felt myself beginning to slip into unconsciousness as she lowered me onto the couch. I was able to force my eyes open long enough to catch a glimpse of her biting into her wrist. With blood dripping from the wound, she held it over my mouth, letting drops trickle down my throat. Before losing consciousness, I looked up one final time to see her smiling with squinted eyes, reminding me that she knew what it meant to me._

Hearing a loud crash, I jolted awake. In my confusion, I scanned the room to familiarize myself with where I was. I let out a sigh of relief after I realized I was in my apartment and seen that the sound came from my cat shoving last night's wine glass from the kitchen counter. I laughed to myself, as I was surprised that I didn't wake up in Emilia's house with her carefully watching over me. Before getting up, I reached to my nightstand to grab my phone. The time read 21:40 indicating night had fallen but I noticed even more importantly, I had no missed contact from the Prince. Usually he only contacts if I've upset him or if he has another fool's errand for me to run. Excited at the thought of a much-needed night off, I contemplated how I might spend my time. It didn't take long for my thoughts to fall on Vesper. I was ready to see her again and for the first time in many years, I felt excitement rush over me. I headed to the bathroom and jumped in the shower, washing away hints of blood and ash from the night before. Wasting as little time as possible, I dressed quickly and headed towards the door. There was a park that I liked to visit that was only a quick walk from my apartment. I headed towards the door in a rush to make my way there but not before stopping to scratch my cat behind the ears. He responded in his usual manner by swiping at me with a loud hiss. "You better come up with a reason for me to keep you around by the time I return." I said to him in annoyance. I dislike that damn cat.

Walking slowly for a change, I let my mind wander about Vesper. I thought of her beauty and soft voice. A feeling of delight washed over me as I remembered hearing how she said my name. It was comforting for a change. Usually whenever I hear my name, it's followed by a command or threats and ridicule. I arrived at the park still entranced by thought of her and noticed that luckily, the park was empty. The moonlight was striking the pond in just the way I had hoped for the occasion. Tonight, I decided that fate wouldn't act quickly enough for me and I would take it into my hands. I headed away from the pond to a tree that was perfectly concealed in shadow. One of my favorite things about being Toreador was our granted power over the will and emotions of others. Closing my eyes, I tapped into my power of Presence and filled my mind with thoughts of Vesper. I visualized her hearing my voice as I called her name. It shouldn't take long for her to arrive, as the Summon is a powerful feeling that will guide her, unknowingly, right to me. Staying still with my eyes still closed, I sent my silent gratitude to Emilia. If Vesper is indeed a gift from her, it's a reassuring thought that she still means to protect my happiness even in death.

Enjoying the night air, I almost don't notice the figure of a young woman walking up to the pond and looking around with a hint of confusion. She was wearing a beautifully colored dress and her hair was in a lovely braid draped over her shoulder. She stopped at the edge of the water and sat down, still looking around in confusion, as she was most likely wondering why she came here. I smiled, slightly losing myself as waves of feelings washed over me at the sight of her. Without being able to keep my patience, I walked towards her quietly, stopping just a few feet away.

"A beautiful moon tonight," I called out quietly to her. She whipped around, her eyes meeting mine as she smiled in delight and surprise. Vesper quickly rose to her feet and ran to me, jumping into my arms and grasping me tightly.

"Sebastian! I… I can't believe you're here," she said as I wrapped her in my arms and held her close to me.

"I'm so happy to see you again, Vesper. I trusted that fate would bring us together again," I whispered in her ear.

"I was worried, you know. I would have much preferred if you just took my phone number," she pouted as I let out an unexpected laugh.

"Where's the specialty in a phone call?" I replied playfully. I looked back up to the moon and reached for her hand. "Will you sit with me under the moonlight? We didn't have much time to talk last night," I asked her as our eyes remained locked to each to each other's.

"I would like that, Sebastian," she said as she walked with me, placing her hand in mine and leading the way back to the pond. "How did you find me here? Actually, why am I here? I was at home, chronicling my thoughts in my vlog as usual and the next thing I knew, I was walking to this park." She said in a quick ramble.

"Your vlog? What is a vlog?" I asked in confusion. "I'm not sure if I've ever heard of such a thing."

Vesper looked over to me with an odd gaze of suspicion. "How do you not know what a vlog is? Don't you have the internet?" she asked with a strange tone of voice.

"Well yes. Is it like the pages that people write and post pictures to?" I asked with genuine curiosity.

"Kind of! It's just that but in recorded video form," she exclaimed excitedly.

"Interesting, you will have to show me your video chronicles some time, my dear," I replied.

"I've been waiting ever since we first met for the chance to see you again. Which now I realize was only last night," she said as her cheeks flushed with color, causing an adoring laugh to escape from me.

My dear Evening Star, if you only knew I've been waiting for this for over a century, I thought silently to myself as we stood under the moonlight. If she only knew…


	4. Act 4 - Vesper

**_Act IV_**

 ** _Vesper_**

As lovely as the moon was with its light dancing off of the water, it was nothing compared to the moon in his eyes. I tried not to look too obvious each time I stared at him but I thought it odd that he kept in the contacts from the club. Whatever the case, now that we had time to talk away from a noisy club and rather awkward situations, I was excited to get to know Sebastian.

"So at the club, you said you had something to attend to. Do you work at Amon?" I asked as I shifted to face him as if I was interviewing him. He flashed a small grin and shifted himself to face me like he was playing along with being an interviewee.

"I don't technically work there. I actually work for the person who owns it, so to speak. Sometimes he tasks me with making sure everything is in order there," He replied with a smile.

I threw a curious look his way, "So are the contacts his job requirement or is that just a club thing?" I asked jokingly. He looked at me with his own glance of curiosity.

"The what? Oh, my eyes. I forget to remove them sometimes. Don't they make me look mysterious?" he replied with a playful tone of voice. It was relieving to catch my first glimpse of his sense of humor. I reached over to him and traced my fingers around his eyes.

"They do add a bit of mystery. They remind me of masquerade balls, concealing yourself behind your yellow eyes," I said, still tracing along them. Sebastian's expression changed to a brief look of worry as if I said something hurtful. I pulled my hand away,

"Are you okay? Did I say something wrong?" I asked worriedly before he gently grabbed my hand. His touch sent the very same electrifying sensation that I felt when we met at Amon, causing the trembling to return. Sebastian closed his eyes and smiled warmly.

"You did not. Why don't I ask you some questions now? There's plenty of time to figure out my mystery later," he said with a bright grin. I pulled my hands away, excited to answer.

"Well in the spirit of fairness, I think you should owe me an answer to the same question you ask me. It'll be fun," I replied, leaving Sebastian with an intrigued look on his face. Sebastian leaned backwards and laid down with his eyes fixated on mine as if in a trance. "Sebastian?" I asked curiously. He blinked a few times before replying.

"Oh, sorry. Yes, that'll be much fun," he said. I looked at him expectantly as he seemed to be taking his time.

"What part of Denmark are you from?" he asked with a curious tilt in his posture. It struck me as a surprise he even knew.

"How did you know I'm from Denmark?" I asked. He smiled at me squinted eyes, which might be my favorite smile that he's shown me so far.

"Your Dutch accent is actually wonderfully done. I guess I just have quite an ear to still hear the Danish in your voice," he replied slyly.

Since arriving in Amsterdam, my Danish accent was quite a stand out among the locals. Over the years that I've been here, I've done my best to perfect a Dutch accent of my own to fit in. I thought it good enough to fool all the locals. I looked at him suspiciously.

"I'm from Copenhagen, actually. You do have a fine tuned ear for accents," I said to him. Sebastian stood up from his laying position and reached a hand down to help me up. I took it, feeling his cool touch send paradoxically warm shivers throughout my body.

"Will you walk with me?" he asked softly. I nodded in return, getting as close to him as possible.

Enjoying the night air with my hand in his, I awaited his next words.

"I've traveled quite a bit around Europe and America. Business mostly, but I enjoy exploring and learning. I've visited Denmark on a few different occasions," he said in excitement. As surprisingly young as Sebastian looked physically, his behavior and experiences sound like descriptions of someone much older and wiser. I stopped walking and stared at him expectantly.

"What do you do for your boss? Just an assistant?" I asked. Sebastian turned around and paused before replying.

"Yes. That's about as accurate as it can be described," he said with a nervous tone. I tried to read his feelings through his eyes as I felt there was something he was keeping hidden.

"We had a deal. Tell me what you do," he said excitedly. I took his arm again and continued walking,

"I'm a student. I came from Denmark to attend Rietvelt," I said rather unenthusiastically. Most people find what I do to be somewhat uninteresting. Sebastian stopped walking and turned to face me with a bright look in his eye.

"Rietvelt? You're an artist?" Sebastian asked. I was stunned by the sheer look of amazement on his face that I took an awkward amount of time to reply.

"Yes, I am! I'm a bit unconventional though. My passion is urban art. I'm a wizard with a can of spray-paint," I said as I tried to hold back from flustering myself with an attempt at humor. Sebastian smiled widely and laughed.

"That's amazing! I'm a bit of an artist myself, although my wizardry comes in the form of words. I would love to see your work!" Sebastian gleefully said as he struggled to contain himself. I pulled my phone from my purse and went to my gallery.

"Here are a few I've done recently," I said as I handed him my phone. Sebastian's smile grew as he scrolled through each picture, examining them carefully. Suddenly, he stopped scrolling and his smile disappeared. He stared intensely at the phone as I seen his eyes flicker almost if reflecting a passing light. He looked up at me with a worried glance.

"You were in pain for this one. There was trouble within your family," he said with pained eyes. I grabbed the phone from Sebastian without breaking his stare.

"How could you know that just by looking at it?" I asked trying not to sound freaked out but I imagine that I wasn't doing a very good job. Sebastian looked at me apologetically,

"I'm sorry. It's an artist's intuition. I've spent most of my life around paintings," he said with concern over if I was hurt. I put my phone back in my purse and grabbed his hand.

"It's okay. Where are we going?" I asked with a playful voice. Before Sebastian could reply, he grabbed his own phone from his pocket. He read over the screen with a look of frustration as if to hold back annoyance.

"It's my boss. He needs me to check in at Amon," he said with a sound of disappointment. Feeling the same disappointment, I looked away from him,

"Oh," I said, trying to hide my sadness. Sebastian placed his hand under my chin, lifting my head to meet his glowing gaze.

"Come with me. It won't be long. The club is closed tonight and I need to check in with the Keeper," he said softly. I couldn't help a huge smile from forming while I nodded in agreement.

Sebastian and I walked slowly, taking our time as we made our way to the club. Since Amon was closed, there wasn't loud music or glaring spotlights paving our way there. I looked over at Sebastian whose attention seemed to be divided as he scanned our surroundings with each step we took. He looked down alleyways, in car windows, everywhere.

"Are you okay?" I asked him. He smiled back to me warmly.

"Quite alright. Amsterdam at night can be a dangerous place," he replied softly. I smiled and took his hand as I lay my head on his shoulder while we walk. We reached Amon finally, much to my disappointment as I was very much enjoying just walking with him.

"Much less flashy when closed, no?" he asked. It really was much less flashy, almost oddly so. Without the lights and people, it just seemed rather dead. I nodded in agreement and Sebastian led me to the alley. I pulled on his arm to exclaim my excitement.

"This is where we met!" I whispered. Sebastian smiled and planted a kiss on my forehead.

"If you don't count my awkward approach in the cocktail lounge," he said holding back a laugh. We reached the back of the alleyway where a large hidden door with a lovely designed letter E etched onto it was sealed with multiple locking mechanisms. I looked up at Sebastian curiously.

"What does it mean?" I asked. Sebastian's stare didn't break from the door.

"It stands for Elysium. The true meaning is lost upon this place, unfortunately," he said with a hint of anger in his voice. "I'm so sorry to have to ask, but would you mind waiting here for just a few minutes? This won't take long." He asked with sadness. I smiled to him and kissed him on the cheek.

"No, but hurry back!" I replied. Sebastian smiled and put in the combinations to three different locks before the door opened. He walked in and looked back at me with longing eyes and smiled before closing the door behind him.

I was actually glad to get a moment alone to think. As calm as I felt, this has been a night of strange things that I can seem to explain. First of all, how did I end up walking to the park? The last thing I remember before being greeted by Sebastian was recording a vlog and working on my newest piece. Sebastian himself is more mystery than I prefer. His job is strange and he works for someone he seems to refuse to reveal details about. He's surprisingly well versed in language and travel for someone of his age. He was able to discern that I was from Denmark as if I wasn't trying to hide my accent. I tried to remind myself that as captivated as I was by Sebastian, that I've only met him last night and that I need time to learn about him but the craving to learn brought upon a strange fear and doubt about what I don't know. I paced back and forth before leaning against the wall as I try to sort through my thoughts. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I notice a shadowy figure walking towards me from the alleyway. The first thing I notice as I stand up is that it wasn't Sebastian.

The man walked out of the shadows, revealing himself to be a very thin, twitchy looking guy. Quite familiar with the drugged out types here in Amsterdam, I stumble backwards towards the locked door of the club. He stopped under the small spotlight in the alleyway and looked my up and down in examination. He flashed me a wide grin.

"The club is closed tonight. Were you looking for fun tonight?" he asked with a slithering voice that made my skin crawl.

"No, I know. I'm actually waiting for someone," I replied as I continue to inch backwards. The man threw me a puzzled stare.

"There's no one worth waiting for my dear. Come with me, you don't need the club to have fun," he said, slithering closer, not unlike his voice. I could feel myself becoming angry. I've been in quite a few situations in this city where creeps like these don't take no for an answer.

"I'm not looking for fun. I said I'm waiting for someone," I said with sternly. The wide smirk that he had shifted swiftly into a gaze of anger and grinding teeth. He walked out from the spotlight and towards me, looking angrier and more ravenous with each step. He began reaching out to me.

"I paid you the courtesy of asking you nicely but in all honesty, it wasn't a request," he said, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from the wall.

"Get off of me!" I screamed. I threw me knee hard into his groin, which didn't do much besides anger him further.

"There's no need for struggle, dear. You'll be just fine," he said as he sniffed the air around me. He covered my mouth with his hand to stifle my screams. "Just fine…" he said again with a sarcastic sounding reassuring voice.

As I closed my eyes to try to stop my tears of frustration and fear, I felt his grasp release from me. His hand no longer covered my mouth and his tight, painful grip no longer squeezing my arms. I slowly opened my eyes to see Sebastian with his hand around the man's throat pinning him against the brick wall of the alleyway. The man struggled to no avail.

"Sebastian, I didn't…-" he tried to choke out before Sebastian interrupted him.

"It doesn't matter what you didn't know. Must I remind you that you are on the grounds of an Elysium?" he said as I could hear pure hate and anger in his tone.

"Yes, I know! It will not happen again. Please…" he said desperately. Why was he pleading? This man was genuinely afraid of Sebastian. Did they know each other? Whatever their words meant, they were beyond my understanding at the moment.

"Go, now," Sebastian said as he released the man from his grip, keeping his gaze on him as he leaved the alleyway. As soon as the man was out of sight, Sebastian quickly turned to attend to me.

"I am so sorry, my dear. Did he hurt you?" he asked worriedly as he examined me, noticing my arm had already begun to bruise where the man had grabbed me.

"It's just a bruise, I'm fine," I reassured him. Sebastian seemed to not hear me as he continued examining. "He spoke as if he knew you, do you know him?" I said, lifting his chin so our eyes met. Sebastian looked into my eyes for a few seconds before answering.

"No I do not. I'm fairly well known around this area of the city, especially by those who frequent the club," he said as he looked back to my arm to assess the damage.

"It's just a bruise, Sebastian. I'm fine," I said as I I continued to try to comfort him. Sebastian helped me up from the ground and pulled me close, wrapping his arms around me tightly.

"I made the mistake of leaving you alone and you were hurt. I won't fail to protect you again," he said with a soft tone. As much as those words sounded beautiful to me, I couldn't disregard the oddity of his tone and how pained he was over a bruise.

Sebastian's pain also brought some other obvious questions I've been avoiding. As much as I've been captivated by Sebastian since last night, he's acting as if he loves me and not just a recent love, it felt like a love that he's had for quite some time. Realizing that this wasn't the right time to bring such questions to his attention, I laid my head against his chest in attempt to calm him and myself.

"Did you finish your errand?" I asked, not moving from his arms.

"I did. Shall we go?" he replied. I looked up at him and nodded.

"Yes please, where are we going?" I asked. Sebastian smiled at me with squinted eyes.

"If you like, I can show you where I live. I think we've had enough of the Amsterdam night life for tonight," he replied warmly.

A feeling of excitement washed over me. The excitement has all but shifted entirely to learning about Sebastian. I knew there were things that he wasn't telling me and I intended to find out.

"I would very much like that." I said to him warmly. Sebastian held out his hand for me to take it. I reached out and placed my hand in his.

"I'll keep you close from now on, my Evening Star," he said affectionately. I smiled widely and leaned my head on his shoulder. He did say he was a wizard with words.

We walked mostly in silence to both of our enjoyment. I felt almost as if I was being carried with my head still resting on his shoulder. Sebastian's apartment was not far from the club and we arrived rather quickly.

"Looks fancy!" I said adding a whistle.

"Oh it's nothing special. Peaceful is all I ask for," he replied. I looked at him skeptically.

"Peaceful looks extravagant!" I exclaimed. Sebastian laughed again and led me to the door, holding it open for me. Sebastian took my hand and led me up the stairs to his apartment. He unlocked the door and led me inside. I stopped just inside the doorway to take a look around. On his walls there were various old century paintings. They all look like the originated from different times and different parts of the world. "Wow," I muttered to myself.

"You're quite the art fanatic. Where did you get all of these?" I asked. Sebastian took a few seconds to answer, looking around at the paintings himself.

"They belonged to a friend of mine," he said with an odd tone.

"Belonged?" I asked curiously.

"She's… gone. I keep these as mementos," he said.

I looked up at him, "I'm sorry, Sebastian," I said with a sympathetic tone. He smiled at me like he always does.

"No need for apologies, my dear," he replied trying to restore happiness to his voice. I reached up and brushed his cheek affectionately.

As I was becoming more and more entranced by his comfort, I heard a soft meow coming from just underfoot. A lovely black cat with bright yellow eyes was staring up at me as it glided between my legs in request for attention.

"This is Emma. Be careful she's a bit of a…-" Sebastian began to say but as I reached down and picked her up, he became silent.

"A bit of a sweetheart!" I squealed in excitement. Sebastian had a strange look of bewilderment on his face.

"What the hell? I've never seen her be affectionate before. She actually despises me," he said with confusion.

Sebastian reached out to try to pet Emma, but not before receiving a hiss and swipe in response. Emma bolted from my arms towards a room in the back.

"What's that about?" I asked him. Sebastian shrugged,

"Couldn't tell you. She hasn't liked me from day one," he said, still sounding confused. I laughed loudly. For some reason, seeing something dislike Sebastian was rather humorous.

"Well, what are we going to do?" I asked with a yawn. Sebastian walked me over to his couch and we both sat down.

"You must be tired. Lay here with me for a bit? I'll take you home soon," he said warmly.

I nodded as I could feel my eyes getting surprisingly heavy. It hit me only now, finally being able to feel comfortable after an eventful night. Sebastian grabbed the remote to his TV, beginning to flip through channels.

"Stop me when you see something you like," he said with a smile. "I laid my head in his lap and stared at the TV, scanning through the movies as they flashed on the screen.

"Oh right here!" I squealed and squeezed his arm. Sebastian looked down at me.

"Twilight? You like this movie?" he asked with a hint of disappointment.

"Yes! You may be an expert in mystery and romance but imagine if you were also a vampire!" I said trying to sound excited but feeling myself slowly fall asleep. Sebastian looked back to the TV.

"Yeah, that would be quite the thing to imagine," he replied.

I started drifting closer to sleep by the minute. Sebastian was gliding his fingers seamlessly through my hair. Before falling asleep, I contemplated on how genuine our affection was for each other even though meeting barely a day ago. It felt as if we've known each other for years. Well, in any case, I hope he wakes me up before long. I remembered that my latest project was due at Rietvelt early in the morning.

Traveling from dream to dream, I enjoyed each one of them, which were quite bright and happy for a change. All of them included Sebastian. At the half-conscious thought of Sebastian, I began stirring from my sleep. I still lay on the couch but as I reach for Sebastian he wasn't there. I wake up quickly, feeling frightened. "Sebastian?" I called out. I looked around to see Sebastian on the other side of the room, looking out of his window. "No…" I heard him utter.

"Sebastian? What's wrong?" I called out to him again. Sebastian whipped around and looked me in the eye with the most pure horror, I've ever seen in an expression.

"Vesper, come here," he said as he walked up and took my arm.

"Sebastian, what is going on?" I asked in a demanding voice. He led me to his bedroom and shut the lights off inside.

"Stay here, please don't move or say anything," he pleaded.

I looked at him paralyzed in shock. Suddenly, there was a loud banging on his door. Sebastian closed the door to his bedroom but left it cracked enough for me to peek outwards. The banging on his door continued as I seen him take a few deep breaths. Sebastian then pulled a large, hilted knife, resembling something like a medieval dagger that was hidden on his belt. I covered my mouth with my hand in horror. What the hell was going on? Sebastian reached to open the door and placed the hand holding the weapon behind his back. I turned my ear towards the door to try to hear what was being said.

"What is it?" I heard Sebastian ask.

"You know what it is, Sebastian. Don't play stupid, I smell her." A frighteningly deep voice responded.

Smell her? Does he mean me? I could see Sebastian's grip tightening on his knife.

"And why is this a problem? Doesn't sound like it is any concern of yours, Azael," he said angrily.

"Sebastian, I don't have time for this. Van Luewen expects you first thing tomorrow night," the booming voice replied to him.

"Fine, go," Sebastian said, closing the door quickly.

He laid the knife down on the table next to him and stood there frozen. I slowly opened the door to the bedroom and walked out into the doorway, staring at him. Sebastian turned his head to look at me but still frozen in what looked like fear.

"What the hell is this?" I asked sternly. Sebastian turned to walk towards me. I stepped backwards and motioned for him to stay away.

"No. First I end up inexplicably at that park. Then I'm attacked outside of the club you work at and what was that just now? You had a weapon," I said as I tried to do my best at holding back tears. "Who are you, Sebastian. What do you do, really?" I asked demandingly. Sebastian looked at me with pained eyes.

"I wish I could explain everything to you, but I can't right now. Please, you have to trust me," he said, as he seemed hardly able to look me in the eyes. I walked to the couch and grabbed my coat.

"You expect me to trust you but you can't even tell me who you really are?" I asked with a sarcastic laugh. Sebastian was silent. He clearly didn't know what to say.

"Until you decide that you can tell me the truth, stay away from me," I said with apparent anger and tears streaming down my face. Before I could see his reaction, I stormed out of the door and slammed it behind me.

I started for home quickly. My pace gradually quickened from a walk to a jog. After reaching Amon, the halfway point between my apartment and Sebastian's, I was at a full-on sprint. I could barely pay attention to my surroundings with the countless thoughts making their rounds through my head. I ignored them. I couldn't deal with what happened tonight without being home and comfortable. I reached my apartment; almost running completely passed it and not realizing. I opened the door to my building and rushed up the stairway and opened my door. Much to my annoyance, Lena, Sofie and Claire we're still up, drinking the night away and laughing loudly as they exchanged gossip.

"Vesper!" they gasped in their usual creepy unison.

"Where have you been? Are you okay, you're crying?" Sofie asked worriedly. I pushed her away from giving me a hug.

"I'll tell you in the morning," I said with a sob. I turned and headed towards my room.

"That's what you said last night," I heard Sofie call out. I ignored her, closed and locked my door behind me and jumped in my bed in attempt to get to sleep quickly as possible.

Still being exhausted from the night and especially from what just happened, it didn't take much time before I felt myself starting to drift off. With the tears still swelling up in my eyes, I drift off with one final thought: who is Sebastian?


	5. Act 5 - Sebastian

**Act V**

 **Sebastian**

I am such a fool to think that I would ever be able to love and protect a human. Damian was right, I yearned to relive my days with Emilia when that is no longer possible. I suppose it doesn't help much that she bears such a striking resemblance to my lost Sire. In any case, even if she had sworn me away, I had to make sure that she made it home safely. I won't trust the streets of Amsterdam, especially with the likes of Azael about on this night.

I reached for my cloak, threw it on and pulled the hood over my head in concealment. If I'm recognized on the streets tonight, it may be best to appear as if I'm playing Scourge. I opened the window to my fire escape and climbed the ladder to the roof. I took a look around and seen Vesper running back towards the way of the club. To my surprise, she was exceptionally quick for a human. I began crossing the rooftops as I followed in her direction and it took but a few strides to catch up to her. The first thing that I noticed, were her tears. Seeing her heartbroken stirred feelings and memories of myself when I was human. It was always frustrating to realize that I didn't know much of anything about Emilia before the night of her revelation. I continued following her until we passed Amon. I looked towards the club entrance from the rooftop across the street to make sure that no one noticed Vesper making her way home. As Vesper kept pace and passed the club, I noticed someone standing just under the awning of the front of the club. It was Maria, Van Leuwen's childe and Keeper of Elysium, watching Vesper as she ran. I kept my eyes on her to ensure that she would not pay her any extra attention, and she didn't. Instead, Maria looked up to the rooftop from which I stood to meet my gaze. She looked at me as if she was surprised and confused. I shook my head in motion for her to keep quiet and she smiled at me and turned around and disappeared back into Amon. Maria may be the Prince's progeny, but her and I were sympathetic to each other's history. I left and continued following Vesper until she stopped at an apartment building that I assumed was most likely her home. I waited around for just a few minutes and seen a light flicker on from an upstairs window. I stepped back into the shadows to avoid being seen just as Vesper appeared to close the curtains. She took one last look around outside before closing the curtains and turning off the light.

I sat there on the rooftop for a while, letting my legs dangle over the edge like a child lost in thought. Although I pondered that using my disciplines for such things would be irresponsible, I had to know exactly what might be going on in Vesper's mind. I closed my eyes and tapped into my mastery over Auspex to telepathically listen in on her thoughts. She was still awake and thinking about me, of course. A lot of her contemplation seemed to be how beautifully deceptive the feelings that were stirred in her seemed to be and how she could have these feelings without even knowing me. I had to smile to myself and reflect on how frustrated I felt that Emilia was shrouded in such mystery. Would telling the truth to Vesper about being vampire bring her relief as it did me? Would she understand or believe it? Even in this day and age, the Masquerade has done well in protecting humans from our dark truth. Of course, the danger involved in her knowing the truth can't be ignored. I wasn't just a normal Kindred enamored by a human. I am Sebastian Scheffer, Scourge of Amsterdam and servant to a sadistic Prince. It would be foolish of me not to keep in mind that there's likely more than a few people who wish to see me dead. There was still one person in this city that I could trust and I needed his advice. As I rose to make my way to Damian's, before severing my telepathic connection with Vesper, I seen her dreaming of a new work of art. It was quite the masterpiece depicting two lovers sitting under a moonlit bridge. I wiped the blood from my eyes and smiled. It's nice to be reminded that at my core, I'm still Toreador.

I decided to take a break from my brooding Scourge behavior of rooftop jumping and walk on the street. I thought about my meeting with the Prince tomorrow night. Obviously it had to be about being seen with a human. Van Luewen had forbid me from involving myself with any human outside of business related matters. In any case, stressing myself over it beforehand would be of no help. Amusingly, the path I took to Damian's requires me to walk through the infamous Red Light District. As I passed each window, I laughed to myself as I watched the humans do ridiculous dances and put themselves on display. I passed one window, however, in which I recognized the girl. It was one of the lovely Tremere that bartended at Amon. I stood there and stared at her until her eye caught mine. She backed away startled and tripped over a cord of strange colored Christmas lights. It was Camarilla law in Amsterdam that no Kindred participate in these types of things. She lay there still staring at me in horror. I just shook my head, shrugged and continued on. I wasn't in the mood for enforcing any law tonight.

I had finally made it to Damian's and knocked on his door. It took a few minutes but I heard his footsteps leading up to the door before he opened it.

"Oh, well if it isn't the Scourge! Here to kill me?" Damian asked jokingly.

"If I meant to kill you, you better believe it would have been before you answered the door," I replied.

Damian let out a loud chuckle, "I'm not afraid of you, little Toreador." He pulled my hood down and ruffled my hair.

"Would you stop doing that? I'm 200 years old for Caine's sake," I said.

Damian led me inside and we sat down in his library, which contained a very impressive collection of literature, especially for a Brujah with attention span issues. We sat quietly for a couple minutes before Damian broke the silence.

"Well?" he asked.

"I need your advice. There's also a slight chance that you'll be upset with me," I said hesitantly.

Damian's carefree demeanor switched instantly to a look of accusation and disappointment.

"You've been with the girl from the club, haven't you?" he said with a deep tone.

"Can you blame me? You've seen what she looks like," I replied while lowering my gaze to the ground.

"No Sebastian, I can't. You never think I understand, but I do. Emilia was important to me too," Damian rose from his seat to stand directly in front of me.

"Do you feel for this human only because she resembles her?" he asked.

"No. Her personality is a bit different from Emilia in fact. Her naivety is quite refreshing and she's very light-hearted. Maybe a young Emilia before she was battle-hardened."

Damian put his hand on my shoulder. "She was like that once. I wish you could have seen it."

"Alright, alright. Can we not talk details about Emilia every time we have a conversation?" I asked.

Damian nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry. In any case, I hope you're smart enough to know the consequences of involving this girl. You're not just any regular Kindred," he continued.

"Yes, yes. I even said my full name in my head and everything," I replied with an exhausted tone.

Damian stood straight up in surprise. "Do I even know your full name?"

"Shut up," I returned.

Damian lifted my chin up to meet his gaze and I rewarded him with the most annoyed expression I could muster.

"When is the last time you've fed? You look like a mess and I could have sworn I seen that same wound last week," he said pointing to a wound on my arm that I received in an encounter with a Lasombra.

"I had a blood pack just a couple of nights ago," I replied knowing that a lecture was incoming.

"Sebastian, you have got to be kidding me. You can't avoid feeding from a human forever. Eat," he said noticeably upset.

I smiled and gave him a menacing look, "You're not my Sire," I said slyly.

"Your Sire would've left you out in the sun by now. Man, 200 years old he says," Damian said as he left the room.

I did enjoy giving Damian a hard time whenever I was in the mood for it. As I started to wonder where he went off to, he returned to the room with someone. It was a young, blonde, human girl with a warm, curious smile.

"And, who is this?" I asked.

"This is a very sweet ghoul of mine who is a very big fan of yours. She enjoys painting, acting, and all that other Toreador bullshit. She's also, O-positive. Your favorite," he replied.

"Damian…" I began before he interrupted me.

"Eat. I promised Emilia I would look after you," he said as he left the room.

I slouched in my chair in defeat, "Always with the Emilia," I said to myself.

"I'm sorry. Do I disappoint you?" I heard the girl ask.

I looked up at the girl who I had almost immediately forgotten was there. I processed her voice and scanned her up and down. It was true that I'm not a fan of treating humans like cattle but it had been quite some time since I had fresh vitae.

"No, dear. You're very lovely. Are you okay with this or are you just doing what that big idiot tells you?" I asked.

"Hey!" I heard Damian call out from a different room. I simply ignored him.

"It's okay. I've always thought you seemed more gentle than everyone gives you credit for," she said while trying to disguise her shyness.

I smiled and rose from my seat and walked over to take her hand. I led her to the couch on the opposite side of the room and invited her to sit beside me. She was nervous and trembling, although not from fear.

"I'll be very gentle," I reassured her.

I guided her to lie across me with her head cradled in my arm. Starting to feel all the hunger that I've been suppressing over the past couple of nights, my fangs extended and I quickly pulled her closer and guided my fangs into her neck. Damian wasn't lying about her being O-positive. I might have to show a little extra restraint in effort to not drain her. She let out a few soft whimpers and I pulled away to check on her.

"Have I taken too much?" I asked her.

With her eyes closed, she simply shook her head in reply and I returned to drink just a bit more from her. After feasting on chilled and aged blood packs for so long, I've almost forgotten the taste of warm vitae. Feeling the girl's pulse begin to slightly slow, I retract my fangs and stop drinking. I licked the puncture wounds to heal them and lowered her down gently to rest.

"Thank you, my dear," I said as I covered her with a blanket that I had found draped over the couch.

"Always the romantic. How do you feel?" Damian asked from the doorway.

"So much better," I admitted.

Damian walked over and gave me a look of seriousness as if he was getting ready to deliver bad news.

"My advice is that you cut out the girl from the club…" he began before I interrupted him.

"Vesper… Her name is Vesper," I said sternly.

"Okay. Vesper. As I was about to say, my advice is that you forget about her and don't indulge her or yourself by seeing her again,"

I looked away from him. I expected this to be what he was going to say the entire time.

"However, we both know you're not going to do that," he continued. "If this is the path you're going to take, Sebastian, you better be ready to deal with the fallout. Van Luewen will never let you sire. In fact, the first thing he'll probably do, is threaten to kill the both of you."

"What is this existence if all I can do is serve the bastard who took everything from me?" I asked.

"Meaningless. There's a special kind of fury I hold for everything that he's done to you," Damian said with a consoling voice.

"So, now what?" I asked him, sounding hopeless.

"Go to Vesper if you want her. This is the most foolish thing you can do but if you're ready to fight, then fight for her," Damian said trying to hide the concern in his tone.

Damian threw his arms around me in a hug, almost knocking me off balance.

"I'm so proud of you and Emilia would be too," he said.

"Thank you. I'd better go, sunrise soon," I replied.

"Go on then, I'd better give this one some of my blood actually," he motioned to the girl passed out on the couch.

"Oh, sorry about that," I said noticing that she looked rather pale. "I'll see you soon."

Damian smiled and nodded and I showed myself out of the front door.

As day approached, I wasted no time and ran as fast as my Celerity would allow me. I reached home, on the other side of the city, in a few blinks of an eye. I quickly closed the sunshields over my windows and crashed onto my bed. Lying in my bed, I thought about using today as an opportunity to do something that I only reserve for special occasions. In my many years of training, for my generation, I am unrivaled in mastery of my disciplines. In only the past couple of decades, I have reached the point in the Auspex discipline that I can project my astral form psychically and travel outside the constraints of my body. It takes a few hours to mentally prepare but with extreme concentration, I leave my physical body behind in sleep and travel out into the world. Since Psychic Projection is extremely dangerous and taxing, I hope to spend little time in astral form. Without much hesitation, I decide that my obvious destination would be to travel to Vesper to observe her while I contemplate our possible future. Traveling even quicker than I am able to using Celerity, I fly to Vesper's building where I find her outside with a canvas set up.

Vesper is an example of absolute beauty. With such a creative and caring personality, her very image was enough to stir emotions in me that have been long since buried. She grabbed a can of spray-paint next her, threw her filter mask on and went to work. Wizard with a can, as she so eloquently put it, was not inaccurate of a description. Her motions were clean and precise as if she was just as comfortable with that can as any painter would normally be with a brush.

For what must have been hours, I watched her work continuously and tirelessly on this piece of art. As she continued to work, I thought about the decision I needed to make. What I had decided so far, is that there it wouldn't be possible for me to continue without her by my side. In my 200 years of almost complete misery, with a chance to experience a feeling other than hate, I must take it. Emilia wanted more for me, just as Damian said.

I settled on it. I will tell her the truth about me. To hell with the Masquerade, I need her and she must know. Whether or not she accepts the truth or wishes me away, I won't lie to her any more. Before returning my consciousness to my body, I take one last look at Vesper's work. It was the same beautiful image of two lovers sitting under a moonlit bridge that she dreamt of. I closed my eyes ready to awaken and return to the physical world.

I opened my eyes slowly as I felt a little groggy. Psychic Projection can be very hard to maintain, so much so that most Kindred avoid it altogether. I reached over to my nightstand and grabbed my phone. I had a text message waiting for me from Van Leuwen simply reading "My office". I had completely forgotten that I was to meet him tonight. I won't be afraid this time. Not after last night. I grabbed my cloak, dagger belt, and reached for Thorn's Kiss, Emilia's beautifully crafted sword from its mantle and fastened it over my shoulder. I should make haste. I'd rather get this over with as quickly as possible.

I headed to Van Luewen's office, which is located underground of his Stage of Trials in an isolated abandoned theater. I arrived and quickly opened the door to the theater and noticed there was no one above ground. Usually the Prince has various sentries to keep guard over potential intruders, especially with Sabbat activity picking up in the area. I entered the elevator and descended down to his office. A million thoughts were racing through my head. What manner of threat will he issue today? What ridicule will he subject me to? I would soon find out.

The doors of the elevator opened and I see Azael and Van Leuwen going over paperwork at his desk.

"Come in, Sebastian," Van Leuwen called out.

I walked up to his desk and bowed my head. Not necessarily a Kindred custom but something that he usually required of me.

"Azael, leave us," he said to him without taking his eyes or pen from the paper in front of him.

Azael flashed me a toothy grin before entering the elevator and heading up to the stage.

"What did Maria have to report?" the Prince asked.

I had almost completely forgotten that I was assigned to gather her report last night.

"Maria and her underlings have been keeping an eye on Sabbat activity at the docks. She says they're bringing in small shipments of something unknown, once a week." I explained to him.

"The docks, hmm? Is that all?" he gazed up slightly from his document to meet my stare.

"She plans on asking your permission to move in, eliminate them and seize the next shipment," I continued.

The Prince clenched his jaw and snapped the pen he was holding.

"She will do nothing of the sort!" he exclaimed angrily.

"You know, Sebastian, I've been having a real issue with insubordination in my Princedom as of late," he said as he began to rise from his chair.

"A very troubled informant of mine came to me and told me he had a run in with you at Amon last night. He tells me that you were being accompanied by a human."

I instantly remembered the shaky Kindred that attacked Vesper at the club. Of course, I shouldn't be surprised. Who isn't working for him in this city?

"He was hunting on the ground of an Elysium. This is against the law, your law, no?" I asked.

"My informant tells me that you stuck around to care for this… human girl. You seemed to show an extraordinary amount of care," he replied, disregarding my question entirely.

Feeling anger starting to boil in me, I raised my eyes to meet his sadistic stare.

"Stop dancing around it and say what you're going to say," I said to him angrily.

"I should stake you and let you burn in daylight," he said without a pause.

"This is something you should have done 200 years ago," I retorted.

Van Luewen let out a brief, insincere laugh.

"Well, 200 years of entertainment is hard to pass up," he said with a sinister tone.

"Can I ask you something?" I inquired him.

The Prince shrugged and nodded as he leaned back on his desk awaiting my question.

"Why did you keep me alive, really? I am the product of an illegal siring. You executed my Sire and you should've executed me by law. This whole thing is personal," I said while clenching my fist.

"It shouldn't be hard to figure out. I hate you, Sebastian. Emilia was my most trusted advisor on the Primogen. She betrayed me by going against my wishes and sharing her gift with a homeless, grotesque, peasant of a human," he explained.

Van Leuwen walked around his desk to sit back into his chair.

"I granted her a merciful death. You're still here to endure the punishment meant for her. Only when I decide that you've suffered enough, will I allow you to die," he continued.

I struggled to not draw my blade and attack the bastard right there. However, there was something very obvious in how he described his intentions that I haven't thought about until just now.

"You loved her. Didn't you?" I asked him.

Van Leuwen's gaze shot quickly to mine.

"You will do well to keep your mouth shut. My patience for you is running quite thin as of late," he said with a deceptively calm tone.

Van Leuwen handed me a document lying off to the side of his desk.

"The Inner Circle has informed me of a rogue Malkavian that has been disrupting operations all around Europe. She was last seen in Amsterdam. If sources are correct, this is the French Malkavian, Alicia Beaufort that the Camarilla has been trying to apprehend for some time now. I trust that you'll take care of it if she is indeed in the city," he explained with a sadistic smile.

"Very well, my Prince," I replied.

I turned around and headed towards the elevator, as ready as ever to be out of his presence.

"Oh and Sebastian, if I hear of you with that human again, she will die and you will burn. You wouldn't want that for your dear Evening Star, would you?" he called out.

His words stopped me in my tracks. He knew who she was and he must know quite a bit more than he's letting on. How dare he use that name. My clenched fist became even tighter. Without turning around I continued to the elevator and left.

I reached the top floor and Azael or the sentries were still nowhere in sight. Good, I really don't think I could muster dealing with Azael as well.

I left the theater and returned to my apartment. I removed my cloak and dropped it on the ground. Sliding the thermostat to the side and revealing a hidden keypad, I entered the code to my hidden locker behind the bookcase. I replaced my weapons onto their mantles and turn around to walk out. At the exit, I had hung the only picture of Emilia that I was able to hide from Van Leuwen. I stood unable to look away.

"Don't worry, I won't let her go," I said to the framed photograph.

I exited my locker and sealed it behind me. It's time that Vesper knew the truth. I quickly left my apartment and slowly walked to Vesper's home. It was still early night so I'll have to contain my anxiety and refrain from further rooftop jumping. Still, since my apartment is located in the middle of the city, it doesn't take my long to reach her apartment. I stood outside, staring at the door for just about long enough for people to think I'm suspicious. I knocked on the door lightly. Before even lifting my fist from the door, it swung open and 3 strange, twitchy looking girls answered the door.

"Uh, hello," I greeted them.

They seemed rather oddly entranced. They looked at each other and then back to me.

"Cool contacts, are you from Amon?" all 3 said in a strange unison.

"Contacts? Oh… yes I'm from Amon. Is Vesper here, by chance?" I asked.

"You're here for Vesper?!" they gasped. "You must be the one that she avoids talking about."

"Most likely," I replied with a smile.

"I'll go get her! I'm Sophie by the way! This is Lena and that's Claire," the strangest one said, introducing her friends.

"Nice to meet you, ladies," I said

They all squealed in unison, something that I was starting to find rather creepy. Before Sophie could leave to fetch her, Vesper walked up behind them.

"Sebastian?" she called out to me with wide glistening eyes.

"May we go somewhere to talk, please?" I replied to her.

Vesper looked at her 3 friends and walked past them. All the while they were giggling uncontrollably.

"I'll see you guys later," she said to them.

"You two have f…" they began before Vesper slammed the door behind her.

Vesper looked at me and shrugged. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"To my apartment. It's the safest place at the moment," I said hurriedly.

"Safe from what, Sebastian? I want answers," she said sternly.

"You will know all of the truth once we arrive. Please…" I said while reaching out for her hand.

"Okay," she agreed.

"We'll need to weave through the alleyways back to my apartment. We can't be seen," I explained to her.

"This better be a damn good truth. I don't like this game, Sebastian," she said while tightening her grip on my hand.

"Be silent and try not to draw attention," I told her.

She nodded while showing me a look of extreme annoyance. We carefully made our way back to my apartment sticking to the alleys and shadows. From what I could see, we did so unnoticed. I quickly opened the front door and led Vesper up the stairs closing and locking the door behind me.

"We're here, now let's hear the truth," Vesper demanded without wasting any time.

I looked at her and hesitated for a moment while I gather my courage.

"Vesper, tell me, do you have feelings for me?" I asked.

She looked at me expectantly while her eyes began to mist.

"Of course I do but if you can't be truthful with me, then they mean nothing," she replied.

"I want you to trust me. I'm about to show you something. Can you promise me you will not be afraid?" I asked. If my heart still had a beat, it would surely have beaten a hole through my chest by now.

"I promise, Sebastian. Just tell me," she pleaded.

Without wasting any more words, I opened my mouth to make my teeth clearly visible. I closed my eyes and extended my fangs. I waited for a few seconds and then looked to her to see her reaction.

"Cute toy, Sebastian. Is this your idea of a joke?" she asked with an annoyed tone.

"Joke? What joke? This is no joke," I said with confusion.

"So you brought me all the way here to make fun of me for liking Twilight? Take me home please," she said while avoiding any eye contact with me.

"But… my Evening Star…" I began before Vesper stomped her foot.

"Don't you Evening Star me! Take me home," she said almost yelling.

I almost couldn't believe that she thought of this as a joke. I must admit that I didn't consider this outcome. When Emilia revealed her fangs to me, I found it much more believable. In any case, if my fangs weren't proof enough, I suppose I'll have to show her something else.

"Very well, but we're going to take a different way," I said.

Vesper nodded and followed me to my window.

"The fire escape? More jokes, eh?" she said.

"Just come here," I replied.

I opened the window and helped her out onto the fire escape.

"Hold on, please," I said as I pulled her close to me.

"Sebastian, what are…" Vesper began.

Before she could finish I took one leap directly up to the roof of the building, which was 3 stories above us. I landed softly and slowly released Vesper from my grasp.

"Sometimes I like to travel by rooftop. There aren't any humans to stare at me up here," I said, gazing into her eyes. Vesper's eyes were locked on mine as she struggled to find a reaction.

"You… You're a real vampire," she said with a shaky, barely audible voice.

I placed my hand behind her to pull her close to me. Reaching out, I brushed the stray bangs out of her eyes and leaned in, kissing her longingly.

"I am, my Evening Star. And there's quite a bit more truth that you need to know about me…"


End file.
